Kevin Nolan wrote: > General consensus though is that the ionic form works best for external use while the colloidal form > probably survives better in the internal environment to 'do the job'.
For topical use it is important to understand what happens when the water evaporates from the ionic silver solution vs the colloid. When the water is evaporated from an ionic silver solution this is what happens: Silver ions in a solution cannot exist without water, so when the water is evaporated the silver ions (cations) must combine with an available anion to form a compound. The predominant anions present in a silver colloid solution are hydroxide and carbonate. The compounds thus formed are silver hydroxide and silver carbonate. Silver hydroxide is unstable and reduces to silver oxide and hydrogen. The silver carbonate will reduce to silver oxide and carbon dioxide. The final compound that remains is silver oxide. For topical use that means that the skin is left with a thin film of silver oxide which is far less effective as a gemacide than either the ionic silver solution or metallic silver. When the water is evaporated from a true silver colloid this is what happens: Since a silver colloid is metallic silver particles in water, when the water is evaporated, what is left is a thin film of metallic silver. The metallic silver film that remains continues to exhibit the germicidal properties of silver and will kill pathogens that come in contact with it. So I would take issue with the initial statement that ionic silver is better for topical uses since a metallic silver film is a far better germicide than a silver oxide film. frank key www.PurestColloids.com -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
